Fort of Monostor Invaded by Military Families
Szöveg: Gábor Kálmánfi | 2008. június 11. 6:48”If the fort is impregnable, then why should I be its commander? And if it is not impregnable, then I will occupy it later, if there is an opportunity!” If we can believe the chronicler, these were the words of General Józef Bem when he refused to accept the position of commander of the Komárom Fortress, offered to him by Lajos Kossuth on the occasion of their joint visit on 6-7 November 1848.
Long ago people actually believed that the fort – as the inscription says on the statue erected in the New Castle – cannot be invaded ’either by trick or by power’, but this year it was impossible to hold back the visitors of the Military Families’ 6th National Assembly either by trick or by power from marching in the Fort of Monostor.
In spite of the fact that various weather forecasts had predicted everything but bright sunshine and the cyclones circulating above Central Europe had promised showers and thunderstorms for Saturday. In line with the prognoses, it was drizzling in the beginning.
Now, an order is an order: HDF 6th Sunshine Brigade arrived right on time, just as it was ordered by the Chief of Defence Staff. Not that the good mood of families was shadowed by grave clouds… in general, the guests were looking around and trying to find out more about permanent and temporary programme events. The keenest ones even compiled schedules since if the visitors wanted to see everything, they had to spend the whole day with very active relaxation.
However, most people were just walking leisurely, stopping by the warships for instance, or by the ’hind’ [female deer], an Mi-24 combat helicopter with a special painting, far from camouflage colours, and by the other military instruments. Children had a chance to turn into occasional pilots, captains, or infantrymen within less than an hour. Some visitors even went underground to find out more about the secrets hidden under the fort and the shooting instructions of old times, and some did the same thing they are doing at home: making models, or systematically annihilating the virtual enemy in the simulators.
The smaller ones could satisfy their need for exercise in several sports, and had fun with the clown. Let us stop listing the multitude of programmes and summarize the day: everyone found a way to relax and have a good time. Either with talking and looking around, or playing cards, watching the performance of the invited artists.
All in all, the day of military families has traditionally been the day of relaxation, though I do not know whether for example the traffic controllers on duty (and many other people) share this opinion or not…
